Veritas 14 degree Dovetail Guide

[TerryMcK]

Anybody got any good tips for using this tool from Veritas?

I have just bought one along with a Veritas Japanese style pull dovetail saw. I have a whole load of blind dovetails to cut as I'm doing the Guild chest of drawers and have decided to go down the hand tools route for cutting the dovetails on the drawers.

I've had a look at the instructions and they seem pretty good but it does say when you cut blind dovetails the teflon guides will mar due to the angle that you have to present the saw to the pin board.

I want to do hand dovetails rather than dowelled half rabbets or machine cut dovetails just as a challenge. You never know I may revert back to machine cut ones if I get bored or frustated.

Terry

[RenaissanceWW]

This is probably not what you want to hear Terry, but I think you will be better off not using the guide and cutting "freehand". I have to imagine the whole process will be significantly slowed down by having to position and attach a guide for each cut. Whether you cut your pins or tails first, remember that the shape of the the first cut element doesn't have to be perfect because you will transfer that shape onto the mating piece. Spend an hour or so making practice cuts in scrap to see how the saw cuts vertically and to a marked line and you will be ready to try it on the real thing. A guide will only restrict your movement and add training wheels that will slow you down and not train your body to cut them without. I liken a dovetail sawing guide to a router dovetail jig. If you want to hand cut the dovetails then do it by hand and trust your saw and your body to make the cuts.

I hope that doesn't sound harsh but I think in the long run you will be better off ditching a guide.

[woodcanuck]

I have to agree with Shannon...I have one of these and it's kind of cool, but the last time I did dovetails I only ended up using it as a marking guide. I think it's ok if you're just doing a few, but if you tackle something like the Anarchist Toolchest you'll be pretty tired of using it, and by the time you're done you'll be so darned good at handcut dovetails that you won't need it anyway. :-)

Practice is the key....gather up your scraps and just start making dovetail joints with them (freehand) and you'll find that it's a lot easier than it seems and that the guide only gets in the way of your productivity.